Oct-Dec 2020

 October

+ October was a special month for me because I got my first "big girl" job. I was hired as a special education teacher at an elementary school and taught our 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade digital friends. The last 3 months consisted of me trying to catch up and stay on track, but all I have to say is, I survived my first quarter of teaching through a pandemic. Woohoo! I'll be teaching 1st and 3rd grade come January and would love to update y'all on my classroom and teaching adventures. 

+ Early October Chu experienced a condition called Bell's Palsy and thankfully he has healed from it, but it played a huge role in our spiritual and marital growth this year. I would love to share more about it another day.

+ At the end of October, I found out that Mx and Chuchi were expecting again! Look at this picture, too cute! It gave me a good laugh, but I know Roman is going to be such a good big brother.

November

+ Chu and I went on a weekend getaway to Cleveland, TN to celebrate our 2-year anniversary. It was a much-needed trip to just relax and breathe from the business of life. We also just want to take every chance we can to enjoy our time together. I booked the Airbnb, which was a gorgeous and cozy loft in the downtown area, and Chu booked a horseback riding excursion for us. We miss traveling and hope to do some more in the upcoming year if we can.

+ During Thanksgiving break my little brother tested positive with Covid-19. He was exposed at school but tested too early. He tested positive a couple days before heading to CO, so he ended up having to stay in GA for the holidays. My heart broke for him because I know how much he needed the comfort and care of our mom. I know my parents were also worried about him, but I'm thankful we found out about it before he went home because he could've exposed it to so many other people. I can now say that he's been Covid free for 2 weeks and the rest of us in the house have been graciously spared.

December

+ We started off the holiday with news that our grandpa passed away. I was completely shocked and to be honest it still hasn't settled in yet. I knew right away that we wouldn't be able to go to the funeral and that'll forever break my heart, but I also trust that my family understands due to the situation that our world is in. I find myself crying randomly when I think of him though. I'm forever thankful for my sweet grandpa who raised our dad like his own and how he tried so hard to be a part of our lives no matter how far he was.

+ This Christmas we celebrated with our families virtually. It wasn't ideal, but we were all just so grateful that we could even see each other at all. As I continue to write, I feel like my heart is just so G R A T E F U L. Even though there was so much hurt, chaos, and confusion there was also so much to be grateful for and we have God to thank for that. Jesus continues to be the joy and hope of our world every day.

Merry Christmas

 Warm wishes from our family to yours.

Yummy Recipes

Hey friends! I've mentioned before that I'm not the greatest cook, but it's been so fun finding new recipes to try. Some are definitely a hit or miss, but I just wanted to share two recipes that I tried and absolutely loved! I guarantee that you'll love them too!

This first dish is a well known Tawinese beef noodle soup. Goodness, the meat was so tender and the texture of the noodles was so so good! I'm drooling thinking about this again. I used two different recipes and combined them together. The ingredients weren't that different from each other, but the two websites cooked it a little bit differently. Again, I kind of combined the two different cooking styles and it turned out fine. I would say, use your best discretion and do what you feel comfortable with.

These are the two websites that I got the recipe from.

1. Tasty

2. The Wok of Life

The second website said to use 16 cups of water. Those 16 cups served my family of four for two meals. If you're cooking for a family of 2 I would probably cut this recipe in half. If not, I would freeze the leftover broth and eat it again another night. The second website also gives you links on what kind of ingredients to get, supper helpful! They say to use any noodle of your choice and I decided to use the plain noodle (thin) from the Twin Marquis brand and they were so bomb! Next time, I want to try the thick flat noodles. For me, I also added a little more salt to my broth. If the broth is not as salty as you would like, just add some more until it gives you the flavor that you want.

The second dish is a creamy tomato pasta. It looks really simple, but it has become one of my favorite pasta dishes! Chu loves this dish too. I found this on Pinterest and it requires an instant pot (so in love with the instant pot), but I also think that you can work around that if you don't have one. So thankful for Pinterest because they have so many yummy recipes on there. This recipe really doesn't require too much work and it can be done within 30 minutes.

1. Pinterest

The recipe doesn't require any meat, but I cook some chicken breast in there and it totally completes it. I just love meat and chicken goes well with it. If you like shrimp then I think it would also be fine.

Well, please let me know know if you try them!

August highlights

In a blink of eye, August is already gone and done with. We're stepping into September and fall is around the corner. I'm always so amazed at how fast time flies, but I'm not complaining because I love the fall season! August was filled with some sweet moments so I just wanted to share them with you all.

+ Double Date

This seemed so long ago, but we loved our double date with this sweet couple. It was nice to go out and play disk golf together. It took us a whole month to plan and find time, but we made it happen, ha. I feel like doing something active is a great way to get to know people. You can break the ice by embarrassing yourself and having a good laugh together. It was a real chill morning.

+ Birthday Celebration

Took our mom out to eat for her birthday and you can never go wrong with Korean BBQ. Chu and I are thankful for the quality time that we have with our parents. I feel like most of the pictures that I have of them are of us eating out. We sure love to eat out when we can.

+ Vincent

Another brother is now a college student! They grow up so fast, but it's so hard to treat them like an adult too. I'm so thrilled for him though and I hope he'll make some amazing memories while also being faithful to the call that God has for him.

+ Dad

At first my parents weren't planning to come and drop off my brother, but my dad ended up coming. I'm not surprised though because I know it gives them a peace of mind when they drop off their children. We got to spend a couple days together driving around gathering things for Vincent. I wish my mom would've been able to come too, but I'll take whatever I can get during this pandemic. It's always heartbreaking seeing him leave though. 

+ Reunions

Mx came to visit GA and this was such a blessing from God! It was so short, but I'm so thankful we got to catch up, reminisce, and laugh together over lunch. I also got to meet baby Roman for the first time and y'all, there are nnoooo words. The moment he saw me he walked up to me with a smile and wanted me to hold him. Ugh, my heart! He is so lovable!

+ Officially Certified

Y'all, this month I finally took my GACE exams and passed! There's such a long story to this, but I'll keep it short. I reapplied for my teaching certificate and I got it! I'm now a certified teacher! This has been a mountain that I've been trying to conquer for a couple of years so I celebrate this victory proudly and along with everyone who walked this journey with me. A big shout out to my husband, my support team and forever praise and glory to God for His goodness to me.

July Haul 2020

Sephora

+ Glow Recipe Pineapple -C Bright Serum - $49

Y'all this serum was e x p e n s i v e. Luckily, I had a gift card so it cut the price in half, but still a bit pricey. I wanted to try out this brightening and smoothing serum to see what it would do for my skin. So far, it does give me a really nice complexion and doesn't dry out my skin, but I broke out on my chin a little (not sure if that was from the product or hormonal lol) and I'm not a fan of the scent. It has a really strong sweet smell to it, but since I used my gift card for it, I'm going to stick it out and see what the results are. 

+Brazilian Bum Bum Cream

+ Coco Cabana Cream

July was my birthday month so those were my birthday goodies! The Brazilian Bum Bum is a fast-absorbing body cream that helps tighten the appearance of skin and the Coco Cabana is hydration for luscious skin and lasting moisture. I haven't used them yet, but they both smell a m a z i n g. The packaging is also so cute! So excited for this little trial because a skincare friend of mine loved these products as well!

Target // Dollar Section

+ Hanging Shelf - $5

Y'all this miniature hanging shelf is so adorable. I have a thing for small and miniature items. I honestly don't really have a need for it yet, but I knew I had to get it because they're never around when you actually want it. Thinking about putting this in the bathroom for some skincare or beauty products.

+ Rope Bins - $5

I love buying my storage bins from the target dollar section. I always wait for them to stock up, because they're always so expensive everywhere else. I'm planning on using these bins for the bathroom.

+ Neutral Towel Sets (2) - $3

These neutral toned towels go so well with the bins. I want to roll the towels into the bins and leave them out for the guests to use.

Ross

+ Marble Stand - $7.99

I had been looking for a tray for our coffee table for a while, but nothing seemed right. I thought this marble stand was different and aesthetically pleasing as well.

+ Marble and Wood Coasters - $5.99

I wanted coasters for our room and living room, but honestly, coasters are so expensive. I'm thankful that I found these beautiful coasters at Ross and for more than half the price that they were being sold for on Amazon. Ross is currently not as stocked right now so I did have to go hunting before I finally found this set. But it was worth it and I say, save your money and just go to Ross. 

+ Hight Waisted Jeans - $13

I contemplated on getting these jeans, mostly because we couldn't try them on at the store. I left and then decided to go back and get them. I don't regret it though! The quality of the color and material is great. It fits perfectly and makes me look slimmer too, which is always a plus! The length was a bit long because I'm not the tallest, but I just hemmed it myself. I don't plan to hem it because I like the frayed look.

Makeitwithjoy

+ Clay Earrings - $25

As some of you know, my latest obsession is with clay earrings and they might just run my bank dry. There are so many talented creators out there and I also want to support my talented friends. I love these earrings because they're so dainty, light, and beautifully crafted. Click here to follow and see what else my friend is making! She truly is such a talented soul when it comes to crafting.

Y A N G | Family Photoshoot

A quick family photoshoot when the siblings came to visit. They literally landed and we took photos that day!

Our parents had the cutest pictures! I love how our mom is looking at our dad in this picture!

A big thanks to our photographer, Phong, for the pictures. We totally asked him last minute and it rained at the beginning of our photoshoot too.

Enneagram

Hey friends! Something that I wanted to share today was my Enneagram number. I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that an Enneagram is a system of personality types based off of a person's core belief and emotions. There are nine different personality types and they help us to figure out why a person may behave the way they do. Our Enneagram can help us with personal development and understanding others.

My top 3 Enneagrams

+ T W O - The Giver/Helper

They want to be liked and find ways that they can be helpful to others so they can be loved and belong.

+ T H R E E - The Achiever

They want to be successful and admired by other people, and are very conscious of their public image.

+ O N E - The Perfectionist

They place a lot of emphasis on following the rules and doing things correctly.

I think it's crazy that each of these are so relatable to me. I like and want to be liked by people and a big part of how I try to express my love to others is by giving and doing things for them. I'm totally a rule follower and I don't like to do things that'll make me feel embarrassed, even though it ends up happening anyways.

I love to follow enneagramashton on Instagram because she creates and also shares some awesome art work that helps me to better understand who I am. A lot of the pictures I'm sharing are heavily based off of type 2. I hope that you'll get to know me and my husband a little bit more with some of these.

Chu's Enneagram

+ S I X - The Skeptic/Loyalist
They are preoccupied with security, seek safety, and like to be prepared for problems.

This is sooo Chu.

Our relationship together is pretty accurate with what is described below. I'm glad that we get along so well. I'd have to say that being married to a six is pretty nice.

T W E N T Y - S E V E N

Happiest birthday to the best hype man ever! He’s always hyping me up and filling our life with laughter. He has the most genuine joy-filled heart and it’s so inspiring to me.

Chu, I love you so much. You’re my forever and always.